Take What You Can Get
by ShelbyElizabeth
Summary: Hangman prize for Wyn. Tony accidentally revives NCIS' smartest couple. McAbby with McNozzo friendship. Will have between three and five chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Tim was sitting at his desk in the main NCIS building. He was updating a BOLO, and unfortunately for him, Tony was in a playful mood. "Psst… McGiggle… psst!" he hissed at the younger agent.

Tim tried to ignore him, but Tony threw a crumpled piece of paper and it hit him on the side of the face. "McGoogle, what are you doing after work?"

"Nothing that involves you," Tim replied crisply.

Tim clicked out of his programs and retreated to Abby's lab and away from Tony, eager to have a break.

"Hi Abs," he said as he entered.

"Timmy!" Abby almost dropped the vial she was holding, "You scared me! What are you doing down here?"

Tim sat in one of the chairs by her main computer. "Tony's doing it again," he explained.

Abby nodded. "I see. Who is it this time?"

"I don't know," Tim admitted, "I didn't give him a chance to actually offer. As soon as I knew it was coming, I got out of there."

Abby was the only person that Tim had told about Tony's numerous attempts to set him up on blind dates, although there was no telling how many people Tony himself had told.

"That's good Timmy. Don't let Tony ever set you up with some sleazy bar girl. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Tony, well, not like that, but you know what I mean. He doesn't exactly have the best taste in women, and I highly doubt that any of the women he knows are right for you. Well, maybe there is one, but that's not for anyone else to decide," Abby took a deep breath, "Right, I'm babbling again. I'm going to go back to work and pretend that you're not here for a few minutes, alright?"

Tim nodded. Abby's ramblings had given him plenty to consider while she pretended that he didn't exist. She was his best friend and she knew him better than anybody else. She was there for him with kind words whenever something went wrong for him. He couldn't even begin to keep count of how many times she had told him that a girl wasn't good enough, but it was a new thing for her to criticize Tony and his preference in females.

He sat quietly in the middle of the room and updated all the firewalls on Abby's computer. After several long minutes of silence, Abby set down a box of evidence and turned to Tim. "Did we ever figure out why exactly Tony is trying to find you a girl anyway?"

"No," Tim sighed, "He probably thinks he's helping me when really it's just annoying."

"I just don't understand why he's concerned. You date, even if most of them are horrible, superficial nasties who only want to be with you because you're a published author…" she trailed off for a moment. "Does it bother you that he does this?" Abby asked in her best therapist voice.

"A little," Tim admitted, "I suppose it wouldn't bother me as much if it was just once in a while, but it's a constant thing. Every time I see him, he gives me a girl's number and tells me to give her a call. Actually, I think some of them are men's numbers…"

Abby stopped stroking her non-existent therapist beard and looked directly into Tim's eyes. "So it does bug you. You need to tell Tony."

"Tell me what, Abs?"

Tony came in, setting a Caf-Pow in front of Abby. She looked at Tim expectantly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Abby beat him to it. "Tim doesn't like it that you're trying to set him up with women, or possibly men."

"Probie, what is this madness? You don't appreciate the help I am giving you?" Tony put his hand over his heart in a gesture of mock self-sacrifice. "I spend my precious time finding women that I think you would go well with, and you come down here to badmouth me… I don't know you anymore."

"Tony, stop being such a drama queen," Tim said, "I would just like it if you would back off a little."

"And why should I do that?" Tony took a step closer to Tim.

"Because…"

"Because he has a date tonight," Abby jumped in, sensing that Tim was going to have a difficult time if Tony was going to continue interrogating him.

"He does?"

"I do?"

Abby glared at Tim. "Yeah, remember…"

"Um, yeah," Tim faked a smile, "Sure."

Tony rolled his eyes. It was just like Abby to try and bail Tim out of situations in which he was not comfortable, but making up a date for him was taking it a little bit too far. "So, Probie, who's the lucky lady?"

"It's…" Tony held up a hand to stop Abby from speaking.

"Excuse me, Miss Sciuto, but I believe I was asking Mr. McGee. Come on there McStutter, who is she?"

"Um… Abby!"

"What?" Abby looked up, confused.

"Yeah, me and Abby are going on a date tonight," Tim was sure it was the best idea he'd had all day; if she was going to throw him under the bus, he was going to take her with him.

Abby glared at Tim from behind Tony's back. "Really?" Tony crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I thought you two were just friends. Didn't you already try this whole dating thing?"

"Yes, but we decided to give it another try," Abby jumped in, knowing that Tim had reached his limit of believable lies for the day.

Tony was momentarily stunned. "Alright then, I'll leave you two crazy kids to it. I just need the…" Abby forced a folder into his hands, "Yeah, that. Thanks Abs. Carry on."

Tim sighed in relief as Tony left the room. "A date? Was that really necessary, Abby?"

She smacked him on the arm. "Shut up! It was the first thing I thought of; it's not like you did any better."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She stomped over to the Mass Spectrometer. "You just had to drag me into it…"

"It was the first thing I thought of," Tim replied in a mocking voice.

Abby scowled at the machine; for some reason, the test wasn't running properly. "So where are we going?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"For our date that you seem so keen to have," she explained in a nonchalant tone.

"Me? What about you? 'We decided to give it another try'…"

"I will repeat the question for the man who apparently does not realize that I could kill him and leave no forensic evidence: where are we going?"

Tim was shocked; he had assumed that as soon as Tony was gone, she would be quick to tell him that they were not really going to go on a date. "You actually want to go?"

"Well, sure. Why not?" she shrugged her shoulders, "We told Tony we were going."

Tim was unsure of what they would do; a date with Abby had not been on his list of things to do for the night. "Okay, um, I'll come up with something and I'll let you know."

He dashed out of the room as quickly as he could, trying to avoid an overly awkward encounter. Tim would never admit it, but he had never stopped loving Abby, and he figured he probably owed Tony thanks for inadvertently pushing them together, even if it would only be for one night. But that would have to wait; he had a date to plan!


	2. Chapter 2

"I didn't realize that you were going to get so freaked out about this date…"

Tim jumped in his seat. "Tony, please give me some warning before you come to snoop around over here."

Tony had caught him Google-ing "fun things to do in D.C."

"You've lived here for years; you shouldn't need to Google anything. 35,400,000 hits… Good luck finding something…" he said sarcastically, "Why didn't you just ask me? I know tons of fun stuff to do around here."

Tim glared up at Tony, who was now leaning over his shoulder, perusing the results of his search. "Because I wouldn't hear the end of it if I did. Besides, didn't you think that she's not my type? Or that I'm not her type?"

"That was a long time ago Probie. You've grown since then, matured. You've got a tattoo on your ass," Tony went back to his desk and scribbled something down on a loose piece of paper.

Tim mentally prepared himself for the impact of the paper against his face, but it didn't come. Instead of balling up the paper and tossing it at him, Tony slid the paper across Tim's desk so that it was right in front of him.

"Fogo de Chao?" Tim read aloud, "What is that, a disease?"

"It's a Brazilian restaurant in Penn Quarter. Take her there, and she will never forget it."

Tim did a quick search and found a quick description on a DC tourist website. "'Authentic Southern Brazilian steakhouse featuring 15 cuts of slow-roasted beef, lamb, chicken and pork carved tableside, sumptuous gourmet salad and vegetable buffet, and traditional hot side dishes. Extensive wine list, full bar, decadent deserts.' Sounds… expensive."

"Oh trust me, it is."

Tim crumbled the slip of paper and dropped it into the trashcan beside his desk. "Tony, she's not that kind of girl. She isn't impressed by how much money you spend on things. She likes it when people put effort into what they do."

"Man, you really know her," Tony went back to his desk.

"Well, she's my best friend. I should know her," Tim said quietly, more to himself than as a response to Tony

…

An hour and half later, Tim printed out a final itinerary. It wouldn't have taken so long if he hadn't needed to actually do some work while he planned; it was worth the trouble though. He was going to make this the best date of Abby's life, even if it was only a fake date to fool Tony.


	3. Chapter 3

"So where exactly are we going that does not require me to change my clothes?"

Tim had gone down to the lab as soon as Gibbs had said he could leave for the day, and waited impatiently for Abby to clean up and get her things. He had dismissed her questions about why he was so anxious with a casual mention of Tony bugging him and wanting to get away.

"You'll see when we get there," Tim replied cryptically, leading her to his car, "I just have to go feed Jethro really quick before we go. You don't mind, do you?"

Abby smiled. "No, I'd love to go see Jethro!"

The ride to Tim's apartment was not as awkward as he thought it would be. The time passed quickly as Abby explained how she'd had to hack into a variety of private organizations and what she found there. Tim pulled into a parking space. "Um, are you going to come up or are you going to wait down here?"

Abby got out of the car, chuckling. "Do you really think I'd let you go up there to see the dog that I found for you and not go myself?"

"You didn't find him for me, he tried to kill me and you forced me to take him in!" Tim spoke without thinking. Jethro had grown on him, but he was still a little upset at how Abby had essentially forced the dog on him. "Sorry, that was out of line," Tim said as he followed her up the familiar path to his apartment.

When they reached the door, Abby snatched the keys out of Tim's hand and unlocked the door. Jethro was waiting just on the inside of the door for them, whimpering and wagging his tail with a ferocity that was unmatched by that of every other greeting he gave Tim. "Jethro!" Abby squealed, allowing herself to be knocked to the floor by the powerful German shepherd.

"Jethro, that's not nice," Tim scolded.

Abby scowled up at him. "Don't be mad at Jethro; he's just excited to see me," she turned her attention back to the dog, "It's been a while, hasn't it buddy?"

Tim shook his head and went into the kitchen. He filled Jethro's food and water bowls and waited for the sound of him bounding over to them. Sure enough, his claws clacked on the floor as he rushed to enjoy his dinner.

Tim went back to the entryway where Abby was still sitting on the floor, coated in a layer of dog drool. "Do you want a towel or something?" he offered.

"Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," she got up and went into the kitchen behind Tim.

He handed her a washcloth and she wiped herself down. Jethro stared up at her innocently from his food bowl. "Don't look at me like that, silly. You know you're messy," Abby said to the dog, not noticing Tim slipping out of the room for a moment, "Has Timmy been taking good care of you? I really hope so because if not…"

She felt something drop onto her head. She grabbed it and held it in front of her face. "An NCIS hat?"

Tim grinned at her. "I thought it was about time someone took you to see the sights, and you can't do that without a touristy hat."

"But I've lived here for years, Tim. I've seen the sights. I see them every day," Abby pointed out.

"True," Tim motioned for her to follow him. Jethro was still enraptured with his food bowl, so it was easy for them to sneak out of the apartment and go back to Tim's car. "But has anyone actually taken you out to see them? Have you ever received a personalized tour of DC from a caring local?"

Abby giggled. "No. Alright then, since you're going to show me my own city, where exactly are we going?"

"Well, it's about four o'clock, so we have some time to kill before we can get in."

"Get in where?" Abby was getting impatient.

"You'll see when we get there," Tim said calmly.

He chuckled to himself as he watched Abby out of the corner of his eye. She frowned deeply and then turned to face forward, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Clearly, she had figured out that he wasn't going give away the surprise.

"Will you at least give me a hint?"

"Fine. We're going to Penn Quarter."

Abby pondered his clue in her head. What's in Penn Quarter that is touristy that Tim would want to take me to? "Can I have another hint?"

Tim snickered and accelerated. "No. I will tell you that we're going to eat first. That is, if you're hungry…"

She could hear the uncertainty in his voice. "Dinner would be great. I haven't eaten in forever!"

Tim drove on, silently hoping that she would enjoy herself tonight, on their unexpected, spur of the moment date.


	4. Chapter 4

Tim parked the car down the street from their destination, just to keep Abby guessing. He had purposely driven a little out of the way in order to avoid passing the restaurant and having her correctly guess where they were going. So far, she still had no idea.

"As much as I enjoy this little walk, how much further is it to wherever we're going? My platforms are killing me…"

Tim smiled. "We're almost there, I promise. Nice day for a walk though."

He wasn't sure why he said that. He wasn't particularly fond of the gray sky or the light drizzle that was falling down around them.

Abby smiled but said nothing. The only sounds came from the cars on the road, the rain dripping down, and their footsteps on the pavement. As they approached the restaurant, Tim's thoughts kicked into overdrive. _What if she doesn't like it? What if she hates everything that I have planned? Ah, all these 'what ifs' are hurting my head._

Tim gently placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her around a small puddle and to the front doors of the restaurant, which were flanked by the trademark symbol of what looked like a chess rook on the back of an elephant. "I never would've guessed that you were taking me here," Abby said.

There was something in the tone of her voice that made Tim uneasy and insecure. "Well, we can go somewhere else, if you'd like," he offered.

"Oh, no, this is great," Abby realized that her words may have seemed scathing, "I just never would have guessed that this was where we were going. Ducky told me that Gibbs was going to take me here for my birthday once, but he talked him out of it because, well, I don't really remember why… Anyway, I almost came here once," she smiled brightly.

Tim smiled a little. He knew it was a mistake to not consult with her on where she would want to go. It had been so long since they'd dated that he must not have remembered the things she liked to do. _That's not true. Just because we stopped dating doesn't mean that we stopped being friends. Besides, I still know what she likes. I know that she eats her grilled cheese with ketchup. I still know that she triple checks that she locked her door before she goes to bed. Why am I psyching myself out over this?_

"Hi there; welcome to Elephant and Castle. How many?" the young hostess looked up from her stand.

Tim was still lost in thought and did not answer her. "Two please," Abby jumped in.

The girl looked at her apprehensively before extracting two menus from a stack behind the stand. "Follow me, please."

Abby grabbed Tim's hand as they weaved around tables in the loud restaurant. He had a dazed look on his face that made her think that if she let go, he would get lost in the sea of people.

The hostess took them to a table that was almost at the very back of the dining room; from the table, Abby could see into the kitchen and watch the goings on. Tim was sure that if she had been any other girl, she would complain and ask for a table in an area that was not quite so dark, but she wasn't any other girl. She was just Abby, and for the two of them, the table felt just right.

"Your server will be with you in a moment," the girl flashed a small smile at Tim.

Abby felt a surge of jealousy, but did not say anything. She didn't think that she could say anything semi-polite to her, unless it was followed by some rather unladylike remarks.

Tim was aware that Abby was still clutching his hand, and she was squeezing it rather tightly. "Ow, Abs, can you please let go? Or at least, loosen your grip?" Tim winced.

She dropped his hand immediately. "Sorry," she looked away.

It was the first awkward moment they'd had since leaving NCIS. Abby gazed at the kitchen while Tim tried to occupy himself by looking at everything in the room except for her; he had a feeling that he would say something stupid if he tried to say anything intelligent. What does it matter? This is just a fake date.

Tim opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud voice that fell upon them like an anvil. "Well, fancy seeing you two here! How's the date going?"

Tim had to mentally restrain himself from throttling the unwelcome visitor. "What are you doing here Tony?" he managed to choke out.

"Oh, just having dinner, you know, the usual," Tony flashed his trademark grin.

"Can I have a word with you for a minute?" Tim got up and grasped Tony by the arm, pulling him far enough away that Abby, who had been watching the scene with interest, could not hear them.

Her lip reading skills were a little rusty, but she managed to make out most of what Tony said. Tim's side of the conversation was a mystery, as his back was to her, but from Tony's responses, she could pretty much figure out what he was saying.

_Calm down Probie, I'm just checking in to see how everything's going… Ha! You two weren't even speaking when I came up to the table!... Did you tell her about how you spent three hours trying to put this date together?_

Abby tuned out at that point, turning her head back to the kitchen so that she could only see the two men out of the corner of her eye. _Three hours? That's a lot more effort than someone would put into a fake date. No, stop it. Tim is just a friend; he has been for a long time, and that's fine, because that's how we both want it. Right?_

Her eyes wandered back to Tim; it was like she was seeing him for the first time since he ushered her to his car earlier that day. At some point after their impromptu date, he had changed his clothes into something less office-y.

The subtle difference in his outfit reminded her of several other changes that Tim had made over the course of his years at NCIS. He had started getting thinner, he was getting more confident, and he was turning into someone completely different than the man she had dated years before. Different. Not necessarily better, but definitely not worse.

_Gah, Abby! Stop thinking like that!_

"Abby, are you okay?"

She looked up. Tim was leaning down towards her looking nervous; Tony was nowhere to be seen. Abby took a deep breath. She needed to know exactly what was going on in Tim's head, and she was tired of playing games. "Tim, we need to talk."


	5. Chapter 5

"You spent three hours putting together this date?"

"How do you know…? Oh, did you read Tony's lips?" she nodded. "I'm sorry. I guess I went a little overboard," _trying to impress you. _

"You didn't have to do that, you know," she said in a quiet voice, "It's not like this is a real date or anything," she reminded herself sadly, as well as Tim.

"Yeah, but you're worth it."

Abby glanced over at Tim; his eyes were averted. "You really think that?"

He shrugged. "Well, yeah. I just wanted to make it kind of fun, since you don't really want to be here."

"Who says I don't want to be here?"

The perky waitress was back. "Are you ready to order?"

Tim looked at her, and then at Abby. "Can we have a minute please?"

He sat down beside her and the waitress left. Abby was internally fuming. _How rude! Wasn't it obvious that we were having an important conversation?_

"Apparently not," Tim said.

Abby's cheeks flushed. "That was meant to be an inside voice. You know, I'm not really hungry anymore," she gave Tim a glowing smile.

Something inside her had snapped. She was no longer content to be on a fake date with Tim. All she could hope was that he caught on to what she meant, and that he felt the same way. She was going to take things into her own hands, even if it meant making herself vulnerable.

"Well," Tim checked his watch, "We still have a while yet before we can get in at the… place where we're going," Tim stopped himself from spoiling the surprise, "We can go take a walk, if you'd like," he offered.

"Fine with me."

Tim left some money on the table, for their drinks, and he and Abby exited the restaurant, his hand resting on the small of her back as they weaved in and out of tables and chatty customers.

"Thanks, come again!" the confused hostess shouted after them.

Abby burst into giggles when they got outside; the light drizzle had been replaced by full on rain. She twirled in the warm droplets of water. Tim was mesmerized; it had been a long time since he had seen her like this. He hadn't realized how much he had missed it.

"Come on Tim!" she yelled.

He was perfectly content to just watch her, but she grabbed his hand and practically dragged him down the road to where he had parked the car.

Dark clouds loomed over them as Abby reached into his pocket and extracted his keys. "Abby, what are you doing?" he was slightly alarmed; Abby wasn't good at driving in the rain, so he especially didn't want her crashing his car.

"Relax, we're not going anywhere!" she smiled.

She jumped into the driver's seat of the car and turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life. She flipped on the headlights and twiddled some other dials, leaving the car running, and climbed back out into the warm downpour. She bounded over to Tim, who was still standing in front of the car in the rain.

Tim could hear faint strains of music coming from the slightly propped open car door. He smiled as Abby stood expectantly in front of him, holding her arms out.

He wrapped one arm around her waist and grasped her wet hand with his other hand. Holding her close, he began to lead her around the parking lot as if it was a ballroom, and their sopping wet clothes were really designer garments.

Abby rested her head contentedly on Tim's shoulder as he swirled them around in circles. "Even if it is totally cliché and cheesy, I missed this," she admitted, just loud enough that he could hear her.

"Me too," he kissed the top of her head.

She took a deep breath and spoke louder. "Tim, do you really want to be here right now?"

"Of course. Do you?"

There was a small, awkward silence. "Yeah. I guess I'm just a little confused," she said.

They stopped moving, but he still held her close. "About what?"

"About us," her voice dropped so low that he wasn't sure he had heard her correctly.

"What about it is confusing you?"

She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. "I'm not supposed to be having this much fun. I mean, we gave the whole relationship thing a try, and now that we're out again, just the two of us, I'm starting to wonder why I gave that up."

Abby had always been the one to take the first step, and she was putting everything out there for Tim to see. It was his move. "We could always try again," he suggested.

He tilted his head downwards a little and she stood on the tips of her toes. For a brief moment, their lips connected and time stopped.

There was only Tim and Abby. No rain. No cars. No curious people gawking at them while running to their destinations. Just them.

His lips were softer than she remembered; like they were miniscule silk pillows that were made specially for her.

He had forgotten how well they fit together. It was as though she was his missing half, but missing no more. He didn't want the moment to end.

They finally pulled apart when they ran out of air. "I'd like that," Abby said.

"Like what?" the kiss had left Tim breathless and a little dazed.

"To try again."

Tim's watch beeped loudly, causing him to jump and float back into the reality of the situation. "We've got to go," he smiled, "Don't want to start our second chance by being late."

Abby got back in the car, on the passenger side. "Where are we going?" she said, remembering that she had never gotten a real answer.

Tim smirked. "You'll see when we get there."


End file.
